A Tribute | To living every day like it’s your last

September 2, 2015

Sometimes horrible things happen and we just don’t know why. It’s a common part of everyday life and one we deal with on a daily basis – whether it’s someone we love getting sick or injured, someone getting screwed over by a job or partner or some kind of loss. But when backpacking, it’s a lot stranger to have these sharp pinpricks of reality piercing through the travel bubble you find yourself in. When you’re constantly on the move and everyone around you is living every day like it’s their last, everyone is happy and content. There is no need to screw each other over, instead we work to build each other up and help each other to be the best we can be. Perhaps it’s all that vitamin D, but we all manage to avoid drama and pain for the most part, and even when it finds some way of filtering into our lives it is that much easier to shake it off.

When I first came travelling, I was dealing with some dramas in my own life which had actually pushed me to leave and travel in the first place. It turned out that living among such amazing people and experiencing such incredible things was exactly what I needed. It gave me perspective and a fresh look at the situation so I could plan for my future. Travelling made it that much easier to deal with the situation and to brush it off, which had been nigh on impossible while still at home. Being away changed my attitude and made me realise how little it all mattered when it came to the story of my life, and how I just needed to live each moment like it was my last instead of worrying and stressing.

Anyone who’s been reading Absolutely Lucy for a while will know I didn’t have the best time in Cambodia and was pretty disappointed by the country. But what they might not know is that I still met some pretty awesome people while I was there, in particular two lads who were the very best of friends travelling together. The pair were quite frankly some of the funniest people I have met and they kept me laughing all night as we celebrated one of their birthdays. We all met, along with several of their friends, after all being invited on a nighttime fishing trip which ended up being hilarious. One of the boys had insisted on going on the trip for his mate’s birthday, forgetting that he couldn’t stand the smell of fish – to the point he spent most of the trip throwing up over the side of the boat. Despite this, he still managed to keep us laughing the whole time and did it all for his friend. These two lads had known each other for a hell of a long time and were a fantastic double act, I couldn’t imagine one without the other.

But sadly now, I have no choice. A cruel twist of fate saw one of the lads killed recently in a car accident leaving behind a devastated family and his heartbroken best friend. After hearing the news via Facebook, I just couldn’t believe what had happened. He was so young and had so much left to do in his life, he had barely been back from his backpacking trip a few months or weeks. I may have only known him for one night, but he made a huge impression on me – as everyone I meet when travelling does. Each person and each moment steals a little piece of your heart and leaves you with a little piece of theirs, whether you spend just a few hours with them or weeks on end. It just shows you how precious life is and how making every second the best it can be in case it is your last is so important. Nick did just that and lived every second like it was the last thing he would do and had just had the most amazing time travelling with his partner-in-crime, Will, and I’m so happy they have at least those precious memories.The point of this post is not to rave on about how amazing travelling is, it’s just to say that life can change in a split second and it could all be over quicker than you can say ‘hey’. But we can’t live in fear of what could happen all the time, we need to just make the most of every opportunity and happiness in our lives so that if something does happen – we can be sure we lived every moment to the absolute fullest. So many sit around waiting for life to happen to them, but that’s not the answer – go out and make stuff happen for yourself! If travel is the thing for you, book a ticket. If it’s love, dive in head and heart first. You get the idea, now go do it – you won’t regret it.

11 comments

So sorry to hear this. Thank goodness he lived every moment to the full and how lucky you are to have been a part of his adventures. You’re so right; whether it involves travel or not, we need to realise how fortunate we are to live in a society with opportunities and have a support network. It’s something I’ve been telling myself a lot lately.
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Love your blog Lucy and think you have done Nick proud on this one. Him and Will really are two of the funniest people I have ever known in my lifetime and the night fishing experience was nothing short of hysterical. I had actually forgotten about Nick being constantly sick until you mentioned it. RIP Nick. And Lucy, continue making life count in that wonderfully bright way that you do. E xx

Thanks Eliza! So good to hear from you ☺️ Really appreciate it, it was such a great trip and really amazing to have such fun memories of the two of them together. That’s such a lovely thing to say and it means so much, hope you’re well xxx

Your Quote: ” Each person and each moment steals a little piece of your heart and leaves you with a little piece of theirs, whether you spend just a few hours with them or weeks on end”
So sorry to hear of your loss, the point is he accepted you as you are , warts and all ( I know you are beautiful regardless) into his life at that stage of your travels and allowed you to be with them for those moments of time.
I have not used my desktop for awhile so it is much easier to read instead of your Twitter and Word posts on my mobile.
Take care and the Love bit , hold onto to that thought 🙂